Bungee jump ends in tragedy

Bungee jump ends in tragedy
Bangalore, DH News Service:
Gross negligence on the part of the organisers of a bungee jumping event snuffed out the life of a Chennai-based marine engineer here on Saturday.

The hook attached to the youngster gave way as he took the 140-ft plunge. According to Bannerghatta police, 25-year-old Bhargav was a resident of Anna Nagar, Chennai. He came to the city along with his friends on a vacation.

Police said the sport was being organised by a private firm, Head Rush, on a piece of land next to AMC Engineering College near Confident Cascade resort, Sampangi Ramanagar, on Bannerghatta Road. It is learnt that a club at Murgeshpalya was authorised to carry out bookings for the event, and they were charging Rs 750.

The last jump


As many as 15 friends, most of them professionals who got to know each other through a social networking site, flocked together and planned an outing. The group had done online bookings and completed the payment formalities.

On Friday night, they all met for the first time at the Chennai Central railway station and left for Bangalore. They landed in the City and headed straight to Bannerghatta Road for the bungee-jumping event.

After a successful jump, Bhargav tried doing a reverse jump and met with the accident. At the first instance, he came down using the elastic rope and bounced back. But, while coming down the second time, the hook gave way and Bhargav, who was at a height of around 100 feet, came crashing down head-first.

With severe head injuries and multiple fractures on his legs and back, he might have died instantaneously, police said. Bhargav was taken to Wockhardt Hospital where he was declared brought dead.

However, one of Bhargav’s friends said the accident occurred when the harness leg strap got loosened. The strap was tied by Pranesh and Nagendra, who were part of the ground staff.

Sources said the organisers had not taken permission from any of the authorities concerned and had ignored all safety measures. An ambulance on the spot could have saved Bhargav. The organisers sneaked out of the hospital the moment they learnt of Bhargav’s death.

Interestingly, when Deccan Herald contacted Sachin, one of the organisers, a woman at the other end said he was busy and would get back after a few minutes. Instead, the phone was put on not-reachable mode.

Police have booked a case of negligence and are looking out for Sachin and Seshadri, another organiser. Bhargav was a student of AM Institute of Technology, EC Road, Chennai. Eighteen months back, he joined Maersk, a Chennai-based firm, with a Rs 1-lakh monthly pay package.

Bhargav was the eldest son of Venkat Rao and Vijayalaxmi. His brother Charan is doing his final year degree in Chennai.

Prajwal, Bhargav’s relative from the city, said: “Bhargav was a brilliant student and was innovative.” After the bungee jumps, they had planned to have lunch at the Bannerghatta National Park and then move on for a rock-climbing session. They had booked return tickets for Sunday night.

Bhargav’s parents are expected to arrive later and the postmortem will be conducted on Sunday morning at Victoria Hospital.